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Sole Mio for Dinner 2009

We headed to Nashville for the Country Music Marathon 2009. The race was hot, but the food was mouth-watering…

Here’s Part 2 of my Nashville eating experience: Sole Mio

We made reservations for Saturday evening, but when we realized earlier in the day that we’d be running late, we called and they were kind enough to work with us to make a later seating. Score one for Sole Mio.

We arrived at the restaurant just a little early, but we were seated immediately. Unfortunately, due to a bit of a mix up, we sat at our table for about 10 minutes without as much as a glass of water. I mentioned this to the hostess in a very friendly manner and the manager came by our table almost immediately to apologize for the mistake. He explained that it was not our server's fault, but instead a mix up with our table and offered the first round of drinks on the house. He then brought the drinks himself…and accidently dropped my wife’s beer down my back. Let’s hope the meal went better.

The meal went better. Incredibly to tell the truth. Sole Mio’s menu features a section where you can mix and match a variety of sauces with different types of pasta. My wife ordered the Sorrentino Sauce (marinara with mozzarella and basil) with spaghetti. My friend’s wife combined the Mama Rosa Sauce (pesto and marinara sauce with a few extra ingredients) with their Whole Wheat Pasta of the Day, which happened to be Penne (her favorite). He ordered the Cannelloni and I ordered the Lasagna Al Forno. The Mama Rosa Sauce with the Whole Wheat Penne was remarkable. The best Italian dish I’ve had in a long time remarkable. My lasagna was delicious. The Cannelloni was very tasty and while the Sorrentino Sauce with spaghetti was our least favorite, it was still better than the best thing I’ve had at some other Italian restaurants. But the three of us were definitely jealous of the Mama Rosa Sauce and Whole Wheat Penne. I’m just glad we shared.

Dinner for four, including the two rounds of drinks we ordered and the bottle of wine we enjoyed with dinner would have been just under $200, without tip. However, our bill was just for our dinners. Not only did they buy our first two rounds as promised, but they comped our wine and sent out a dessert on the house (the Tartufo Nero Afogato, which I won’t get into, but would highly recommend). Anyone that dines out enough realized that sometimes things happen. Good restaurants make sure you continue to enjoy your dining experience when accidents occur. Great restaurants make sure you forget about them completely (except of course, for the purpose of review). Sole Mio is the latter. I will make a point to go there every chance I get.

*Note* One final comment. I just want to mention that we tipped our server for the cost of what would have been the entire bill, including the drinks and dessert. Maybe this doesn’t belong here, but I believe that when you’re treated well, you take care of the people that took care of you. We also took the time to shake hands with the manager and to thank the hostess. I don’t mean to preach, but rude and cheap diners ruin a meal more often than anything a restaurant does. Now I promise to come back off my high horse…